Sabaydii,
 

Of all the Lao great, no one is more of a humble origin than Maha Sila
Viravong – a man from a peasant family from Roi-Et in Isan, the former
Lao land of the once great LanXang kingdom. To some of us who are used
to only kings and nobles as the Lao great, it will be quite
unthinkable for them to admit or even realize that an ordinary person
can be considered likewise. Anyway, the criteria of the great do not
only apply to the line of descent but of great individual achievement
as well. Moreover, what makes Maha Sila Viravong quite spectacular
stems from the fact that he is not only of a common type like most of
us but he is a Lao from the other side of the Mekong who, despite of
the Thai forcible assimilation, is still no less Lao than anyone of us
born and raised in Laos.
 

If you ask me, what makes Maha Sila Viravong stands out. I won't
resort to the status as we are accustomed to but his actual
achievement in the field of history and language. Because of his works
in those fields, Lao national history and Lao national language had
been taking shape and becoming a model for all Lao patriots to
emulate. Just think that our country had been subjected to the foreign
rules for over two decades. As a result, the development of our Lao
language had been stalled and stymied. More importantly, our people
had no identity, no shared vision and no shared destiny. Only through
Maha Sila Viravong's devoted commitment to revive LanXang's great in
literature buried in the Thai national library and his painstakingly
rewriting of Lao history, Laos as a nation state fully conscious of
her role as a unique people and country came into a being.
 

Of course, there are many flaws in Maha Sila Viravong's history book
but still his pioneer work is more than anyone can ask for from a
single individual – be it a scholar or a statesman. With that being
said, his historical work on tracing our Lao roots from not only the
great LanXang era but of the legendary Khun Borom hundreds or even
thousands of years before that is quite an intellectual achievement.
What we are so proud of our Lao roots owe so much to Maha Sila. Even
with this alone, Maha Sila Viravong can be elevated to one of the Lao
great – no less than Chao FaNgum, Chao Saysettha, Chao Anou and Chao
Phetsarath. Adding to his work on the standardization of the Lao
written language and his promulgation of the great Lao literature,
Maha Sila Viravong is a Lao our country and people should find a way
to pay respect to.
 

Hakphaang,
LanXang
p.s. In my own way, I am bowing down and saluting him, Maha Sila
Viravong, a true Lao whose life is completely devoted to nothing else
but the greatness of Muang Lao and Quon Lao.